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November 09, 2021POPULATION: CENSUS FAMILIES AND MARITAL STATUS FOR JULY 1, 2021 Statistics Canada has released revised estimates about census families and marital status as of July 1, 2021. This reflects the recent population estimate of 992,055 as of July 1, 2021.
Census families
The number of census families in Nova Scotia increased by 0.7% from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021, reaching 281,999 families. Across Canada, the number of census families increased by 1.2% with faster growth in British Columbia, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. Only Newfoundland and Labrador reported a decline in the number of census families.
In all provinces, growth in lone parent families outpaced growth in couple census families. Couple economic family growth was slower than lone parent family growth.
Of the 281,999 census families in Nova Scotia there were 229,296 couples census families and 52,703 lone parent families. Nova Scotia had the second highest share of lone parents among census families (18.7%) after Saskatchewan (19.7%). British Columbia (15.5%) had the lowest portion of lone parents among census families.
Nova Scotia used to have the hightest portion of lone parents among census families, but in the last five years, there has been a notable rise in the share of lone parents among Saskatchewan census families. Although lower than Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, the share of lone parent families has been rising faster in Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta.
Growth in the number of Nova Scotia census families accelerated starting in 2015, at the same time as the province's overall population growth started to rise more quickly. However, Nova Scotia's growth in census families since 2006 remains slower than in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador.
Growth in the number of couple families has accelerated in Nova Scotia since 2015, but over this period the pace of growth lags all other provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
Since 2015, Nova Scotia has had faster growth in the number of lone parent families, but this is still slower than in all provinces excpet New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Notes: Statistics Canada defines a census family as a married couple (with or without children of either and/or both spouses), a common-law couple (with or without children of either and/or both partners) or a lone parent of any marital status, with at least one child. A couple may be of opposite sex or same sex. Note that this definition excludes unattached individuals and thus is not equal to the number of households.
Marital Status
The population can be broken down into six categories of marital status: single, married, separated, living common-law, widowed and divorced.
Of the 992,055 residents estimated for Nova Scotia as of July 1, 2021 the largest numbers were either married (389,786) or single (370,387). Note that this includes all ages, so younger residents are all counted as 'single'. There were a further 92,984 persons living in a common-law arrangement. There were 58,123 widowed Nova Scotians, a disproportionate number of whom were women. There were 27,969 Nova Scotians who were separated and 52,806 who were divorced.
Martial status is variable by age - with younger populations reporting a higher proportion who are single or living in a common law arrangement. Older populations report higher shares who are married, divorced or widowed.
Over time, propensities for married status have changed across age cohorts. From 1991 to 2021, there was a rise in the share of non-senior cohorts who were single, though the share of single individuals among older cohorts (65+) has declined. There has been a rising share of the population living in common law arrangements across all cohorts, but this still makes up a relatively small portion of the population at each age cohort.
There has also been a decline in the share of non-senior cohorts who are married. For example, in 1991 64.3% of the population aged 30-34 was married but by 2021, the share of the population aged 30-34 who were married had fallen to 38.5%. Although the share of the population who are widowed rises consistently with age, the share of the population in age cohorts from 50 to 89 years old who are widowed has been falling.
The share of the population who are separated or divorced is comparatively small, but there have been notable changes over time. In 2021, Nova Scotians under age 35 are less likely to be separated than those of similar ages in previous years, but those over age 40 were more likely to be separated than in previous years. Likewise, the share of Nova Scotians in 2020 who were divorced has fallen for younger populations (under age 50), but increased for older populations (aged 50+).
Compared with the national average, a lower portion of Nova Scotia's population is single while higher proportions are married, separated, divorced or widowed. This is consistent with Nova Scotia's older demographic profile.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 17-10-0061-01 Estimates of the number of census families as of July 1st; Table 17-10-0060-01 Estimates of population as of July 1st, by marital status or legal marital status, age and sex
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